This application is based upon French Patent Application No. 01 01258, filed Jan. 24, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated-by-reference thereto in its entirety, and the priority of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sports boot, more particularly a ski boot, of the type having a tightening device.
Such a tightening device is adapted to keep two flaps of a foot insertion area of the boot close together,
In a known manner, a device of this type includes a first portion constituted by an operating lever including at least one connection element and carried by a base plate affixed to one of the flaps to be brought closer together, and a second portion located on the other flap and constituted by a second connection element corresponding to the first and controlled during latching or unlatching by means of the lever.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
With devices of the aforementioned type, it is apparent that the user""s comfort cannot always be achieved. Indeed, in these devices, the lever and connection elements which constitute them are arbitrarily positioned on a working line corresponding to a standard morphology of a foot. However, it is apparent that differences exist from one individual to the next; thus, the aforementioned working line can be offset with respect to the bending folds of the foot, for example, after the flaps of the boot are tightened. Also, the morphology of the foot may be such that, in certain cases, it causes the misalignment of the lever in relation to the connection element, which can generate variations in tightening during use of the boot.
To remedy this disadvantage, it is known to make operating levers that are associated with means for aligning the two portions of the tightening device so as to position them on a single working line.
The German document No. 24 14439 describes such means constituted of a fixed notched slide in which the base of a tightening lever carrying a traction cable moves as a function of the adjustment to be made.
The linkage between the lever and the notched slide is carried out by means of two pieces pinching a plate in which the fixed guiding slide is obtained. An elastic return spring, which requires the use of a fine instrument to lift it before a new adjustment can be made, is associated with these pieces.
This device is nothing short of complex and delicate, especially with respect to the adjusting operation.
An object of the present invention is to overcome all of the aforementioned disadvantages and, to this end, the invention relates to a sports boot, especially a ski boot of the type having a tightening device adapted to keep two flaps of a foot insertion area close together and including a first portion constituted by an operating lever which includes at least one connection element and is carried by a plate affixed to one of the flaps to be brought closer together, and a second portion located on the other flap and constituted by a second connection element of his lever which has means for aligning the two portions so as to position them on a single working line, wherein the operating lever is attached on the plate, which is fixed, by means of a movable cap forming a base connected to the plate by at least one assembling and guiding pin extending through a corresponding hole of the cap and an arc of a circle slot of the plate in which at least one pin is adapted to move angularly, in a transverse direction, when adjusting the alignment of the portions of the tightening device, which occurs by sliding the cap carrying the lever with respect to the base plate.
The advantage of such a solution according to the invention lies in the fact that the connection between the movable cap and the fixed plate occurs without any intermediary element whose weakening may cause a clearance between the two pieces.
That is the case in the aforementioned cited prior art document which uses an elastically deformable element between equivalent pieces.
The present invention also relates to the characteristics which will become apparent from the description that follows, and which must be considered separately or according to all of their possible technical combinations.